The Roottrees are Dead
Detective puzzle game about reconstructing a wealthy family's bloodline
Evil Trout Inc. · Released Jan 15, 2025
- Reviews
- Overwhelmingly Positive
- 96% of 10K
- Recent reviews
- Very Positive
- 94% of 381 in 30 days
- Playing now
- 165
- right now
- Steam Deck
- Playable
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Sep 18, 2026
Metacritic: 86/100 (critic reviews)
What is The Roottrees are Dead?
A single-player point-and-click deduction game set in 1998. After a plane crash raises an inheritance question, you search websites, books, articles, and photos for evidence, cross-reference family relationships, and complete a family tree. A second mystery follows the family after the main case.
For you if...
- +you enjoy research-heavy logic puzzles and cross-referencing clues
- +you like piecing together stories through documents
- +you want a single-player mystery set in the late 1990s
Not for you if...
- −you want action instead of reading and deduction
- −you dislike tracking names and extended family relationships
- −you need a strong narrative hook to stay engaged
What players say
96% of 10,153 reviews are positive · 94% of 381 in the last 30 days
Players praise the research-based deduction, interconnected clues, and satisfaction of completing the family tree. Common complaints focus on weak story conclusions and puzzles that become tedious or rely on unclear logic. Several players find the optional Roottreemania case more repetitive and confusing than the main mystery.
Screenshots and trailer
The Roottrees are Dead system requirements
As published by the developer.
Minimum
- OS
- Windows 10 64-Bit
- Processor
- 2.0Ghz Dual Core
- Graphics
- Intel HD Graphics 510
- Memory
- 8 GB RAM
- Storage
- 1 GB available space
- Notes
- Your graphics card needs at least 2GB of VRAM
Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
PC version details
DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.
- DRM
- None declared on Steam
- Controller
- Keyboard and mouse
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Achievements
- 22
- Steam features
- Cloud saves, Family Sharing
Steam Deck: Playable
- Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
- Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
- Some in-game text is small and may be hard to read
- All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
- Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
Multiplayer and co-op
Languages
Full audio: English, Simplified Chinese. Text only: French, German, Spanish - Latin America, Portuguese - Brazil, Italian, Russian.
Tags
- Detective
- Puzzle
- Mystery
- Point & Click
- Investigation
- Story Rich
- Atmospheric
- Singleplayer
- 1990's
- Logic
- Adventure
- Interactive Fiction
- Indie
- Retro
- LGBTQ+
- Casual
Recent updates
- Sep 18, 2026 · Update Notes for Sep 18, 2026
- Sep 11, 2026 · Patch Notes for Sept 11, 2026
- Jun 22, 2026 · Minor fixes for Italian
- May 18, 2026 · Patch Notes for May 18, 2026
- May 13, 2026 · Patch Notes for May 13, 2026
1 DLC available.
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